Transcript from David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech at Kenyon College in 2005. One of the only times he ever candidly spoke about life. “If anybody feels like perspiring, I’d advise you to go ahead, because I’m sure going to. In fact I’m gonna. “Greetings and congratulations to Kenyon’s graduating class of 2005. There are these [...]
Archive for the ‘Society’ Category
July 3, 2009
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The Next Big Bubble
By MDS in Opinion, Society, SportsOne of the greatest scenes in Airplane II: The Sequel is when the flight attendant Elaine (played by Julie Hagerty) tells the passengers that they are headed towards the sun and certain death: Elaine: “Please, ladies and gentlemen, please calm down. Listen to me!” [the passengers calm down] Elaine: “We’ve been thrown off course just [...]
June 28, 2009
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Reality Vs. Alternate Universe
By MDS in Opinion, SocietyWhenever an entertainer (or athlete) dies at a young age, there is always a low-grade curiosity to wonder how their career would have unfolded. Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, River Phoenix, James Dean, Jeff Buckley, Len Bias, Buddy Holly, Heath Ledger, Marily Monroe, Judy Garland, Tupac, John Belushi, Andy Kaufman: all people for whom [...]
April 18, 2009
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On Gay Marriage
By MDS in Opinion, Politics, SocietyThe first thing that everyone needs to think about first when the topic of gay marriage in America comes up is that it really, truly is neither about religion nor politics. Okay, it is about politics to some extent because the problem with gay marriage is that it will impact tax law, which is something [...]
March 22, 2009
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Sex And Marketing And Ice Cream (And Bubbles)
By MDS in Opinion, SocietyMen, because we are stimulated visually, have a very complex relationship with sex—the marketing of it, the production quality of the fantasy of it, the hunt for it, the consummation of it, and the attempts to balance it within the framework of an emotional relationship with another person once we have found them. Additionally, our [...]
March 14, 2009
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Jim Cramer vs. Jon Stewart Thoughts
By MDS in Opinion, SocietyJon Stewart, whom you know and love as the exiled sage who walks the land in tattered garb and whose mission is speak to truth to power, has discovered an injustice: namely, that financial reporting is consistently wrong. And that CNBC (and others) need to be held accountable for this. And that they are somewhat [...]
February 20, 2009
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Modern Americana (Six)
By MDS in Opinion, Series: Modern Americana, SocietyThis installation of the series is two-fold as the Sun Records logo helps magnify two things that are distinctly modern American: the iconography of a logo, and the post-slavery cultural significance of the South. Additionally, both of these things are in the forefront of America today because both directly apply to our new President. I [...]
January 2, 2009
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Religion And Human Nature
By MDS in Opinion, Religion, Society1. Whenever someone has asked me what my religious views are I tell them that my religious belief lies somewhere in between Agnostic and Atheist. The Agnostic in me wants to believe that this world was created by an all-powerful, loving deity that wants nothing but the best afterlife for the followers who spread the [...]
December 26, 2008
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Modern Americana (Five)
By MDS in Opinion, Series: Modern Americana, SocietyI still find it quite amazing that more people today—whether it be people who provide social commentary (serious or humorous) in print or on a panel amongst other talking heads, or international intelligentsia looking for a metaphor to describe America’s current economic or foreign policy woes—do not reference Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee In King [...]
December 6, 2008
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Big Three Bailouts Skewering Our Ability To Think Long-Term
By MDS in Opinion, SocietyWhen the Big Three CEO’s arrived in Washington, D.C. to ask the federal government for money the first time in private jets, everyone would be excused for thinking to themselves, “You have got to be f**king kidding me…”. Not only did it seem to be poor form (private jets, as it turns out, cost a [...]